A wall of Bosnia’s own making

When Croatia joined the European Union earlier this month, its accession did not just affect the EU. It has left Bosnia substantially poorer: Bosnian farmers are now unable to export to their biggest market.

The fault for this brutal severance of trade lies solely with Bosnia’s law-makers and their intransigent opposition to co-ordinating policy in the agricultural sector at the state level. To be able to export to the EU, Bosnia needs an effective standards and certification regime for agricultural produce. It does not have one because there is no state-level agriculture ministry. Instead, agriculture is left to the regional governments in the Bosnian-Croat Federation and the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska.

Creating a ministry has become one of the most contentious issues on Bosnia’s road to EU accession; it is also potentially one of the simplest to address. The EU’s entry requirements, the acquis, require a single point of co-ordination for agricultural policy. It requires this in all other member states and candidate countries, including those with the most federal structures.

Establishing state structures is, however, prey to Bosnia’s fragmented and convoluted post-war structures, and is opposed by the government of the Republika Srpska.

Whilst the federation and the district of Brc?ko – a self-governing district formally part of both the Federation and the Republika Srpska – both support the development of the necessary state-level structures, the Republika Srpska maintains that doing so violates the constitution.

In fact, Bosnia’s constitution is very clear in allowing for the establishment of additional state-level functions where they are needed to ensure that the country can function properly. The establishment of a state-level defence ministry is a prime example.

Recent research by Green Council, a Bosnian civil-society organisation, shows that a clearly mandated agriculture ministry is the most effective way to do the job required. The research also revealed that the financial impact of this paralysis on Bosnia’s farmers is more than €325 million a year, in part because of its lost market – Croatia – and in part because Bosnia is unable to start receiving EU pre-accession funding for farmers. In fact, the total cost to rural Bosnia is much higher, as the political impasse has created a negative investment environment.

Surprisingly, in the face of these losses, the EU appears to be becoming less demanding, as is evident in its softening of the language used in progress reports in recent years. From 2005 to 2010, the reports explicitly recommended a state-level competence for agriculture; this was notably lacking in 2011 and 2012.

Additionally, some citizens’ groups appear to have become politicised and even subservient to party-political imperatives, and consequently are fearful of publicly expressing messages expressed privately.

The political brinksmanship is obscuring Bosnia’s strong agricultural potential. Bosnia’s farmers could become prosperous, but the brightest and best may have given up by the time the country’s politicians reach the agreements they need.

The conclusion – that a ministry of agriculture would be the most effective way to strengthen this sector – goes much further than Bosnia’s law-makers have so far indicated. Bosnia’s best hope for forcing progress could be a positive and determined campaign by citizens and business.

In the past two months, Bosnians have taken to the streets in anger at how political factions and local governments have battled over the allocation of identity numbers, a battle that has cost the life of at least one child and complicated the lives of many thousands of Bosnians. Perhaps only something like the spirit of the identity-card protests, which has united groups across ethnic and territorial lines, can provide the necessary pressure on the intransigent political classes to create an environment in which Bosnia’s rural communities and agricultural sector can reverse decades of decline. That, and pressure from the EU.

Sanela Klaric is the head of Green Council, a Bosnian non-governmental organisation.